The history of pirates
In ancient Rome, pirates were rampant in the eastern Mediterranean. Pompeii, the Roman military commander, set up a fleet dedicated to fighting pirates. Yuri Caesar, who once lost power and influence, was even captured by pirates, and then he took cruel revenge and mobilized his fleet to completely destroy the pirate nest in Famakos. But the Roman Senate did not want to suppress pirates, because the existence of pirates was their interest: to provide thousands of slaves and destroy the grain trade, so that they could drive up prices and profit from them. In ancient Rome and before, piracy was limited to the Mediterranean, but it became popular in northern Europe after entering the Middle Ages.
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages was the period when pirates developed and vikings became famous. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records an attack in 787 BC: three Viking ships attacked the monastery of Lindisfan on the coast of England, where they "brutally plundered and ravaged everything, dug up the altar and looted all the treasures in this holy church".
From 800 to 1 100, pirates became an important social role in northern Europe. The ancestors of Danes, like the ancestors of Norwegians and Swedes, fought on the European coast and won the title of "Viking". Archaeologists excavated a grave in Sweden and found silver coins from Spain, Egypt, Syria, Baghdad and Tashkent in Central Asia. Next to him are axes, spears and daggers, several knives, a shield and a belt buckle.
Pirates have also begun to appear along the southeast coast of Asia, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. With the decline of centralization in the13rd century, pirates along the coast of China became rampant. They often land at will on a ship that can hold 300 people and rob a village.
Discover the new world
Since16th century, pirates have become famous, and ships have become bigger and faster. With the discovery of the New World, the expansion of colonies, all kinds of ships loaded with gold and other goods sailing around the world, the competition of interests between countries and the ambition of colonies, sailors found it very easy to legalize cruel piracy. At that time, British privateers could attack and rob Spanish cargo ships unscrupulously.
Private photos sound a little robber logic. For example, if a Dutch businessman's goods are stolen in Germany, and he can't get damages through legal or diplomatic means, he can obtain a private smuggling license authorized by the Dutch government, which allows him to capture German merchant ships to make up for the losses. In fact, governments later used these licenses as national tools to strengthen their navies, which enabled them to have an additional maritime force and attack enemy merchant ships out of thin air without increasing their budgets. Because according to the regulations, the captured ship must be taken to the Admiralty to confirm that it is a legitimate prey, not the property of a neutral country. The use of privateering permits ended in 1856, when many countries signed a declaration in Paris. The United States and several other countries signed the treaty very late. At that time, the United States mainly relied on private plunder to strengthen their maritime power because they lacked a strong navy. According to records, Turkish pirates hijacked 466 merchant ships in the Mediterranean from 1609 to 16 16; 1625, 27 merchant ships were hijacked in ten days. After the discovery of the new continent, the maritime traffic in the Caribbean was also extremely prosperous, and then the piracy activities in this area were unprecedented, pointing directly at the "exclusive predator" Spanish cargo ships in this area.
golden age
The golden age of pirates is 169 1 to 1723. During this period, a number of well-known pirate leaders appeared. The famous "Black Beard" edward teach, Captain Kidd and "Black Baron" Robert have all become legends in the history of pirates.
Roberts 1682 was born in Wales. When Blackbeard became famous on the American coast, he was the first mate of Barbados merchant ship. After nearly 20 years as an ordinary sailor, he finally realized: "Stealing a shilling will be hanged anyway, so why not steal more wealth!" Therefore, he joined Captain Davis's pirate ship. In a battle with the Portuguese, Davis was killed and Roberts was elected as the captain. 1765438+In September 2009, the royal tramp he commanded robbed a fleet of 42 Portuguese merchant ships. 1720 In June, the "Royal Tramp" held high the skull flag and swaggered into the port of Trebasa, ransacked more than 50 ships parked here, and chose the best clipper as its new flagship. Roberts named it "Royal Happiness". Later, in the three days of June+10 in 5438, they robbed 15 British and French ships in Dominica and sank a Dutch warship with 42 cannons. ...
On the morning of February 1722, 10, the Royal Happiness encountered the Royal Swallow, a cruiser of the British Royal Navy, at Cape Lopez, Africa. A shrapnel blasted Roberts' throat and he died instantly. Roberts robbed more than 400 ships during his pirate career. He has a very complicated personality connotation, and he is also a person who pays great attention to the articles of association. There is a ship regulation made by Roberts, which stipulates: 1. Everyone has equal voting rights in daily affairs; Stealing colleagues' property will be abandoned on a desert island; 3. Gambling on board is prohibited; 4. Turn off the lights at 8 pm on time; 5. Don't wear unclean weapons, and always scrub guns and knives; 6. Don't bring children aboard, and those who seduce women will die; 7. Death of people fleeing the cold war; 8. It is forbidden to fight in private, but you can fight in front of a notary. Those who kill their companions should be tied to the dead and thrown into the sea; 9. Disabled people in combat can stay on the boat and receive 800 Spanish silver coins from "public savings"; 10. When dividing the spoils, the captain and the helmsman get two spoils, the gunner gets 1.5, and others get 1 and 1.4.
The suspense of Treasure Island
The biggest "sale" in the history of pirates, the so-called "Lima Dabao" case, took place in 182 1. At that time, the army led by Simon Bolvar, the famous leader of South America who resisted Spanish colonial rule, approached Lima, the capital of Peru. Lima was once considered as the richest city in South America, with countless gold ingots, coins, Inca gold ornaments, precious vessels of religious temples, necklaces, rings, weapons inlaid with gems, gold statues and so on. These treasures were loaded on the British dhow "Mary Kiel", which came from Bristol, England, and was commanded by the then loyal and reliable Dutch captain Verja Thomson. One night after the "Mary Kiel" set sail, Thomson led the sailors into the cabin, killed the governor and archbishop of Lima, and the ship raised the pirate flag.
Since then, the whereabouts of this huge wealth has cast an unknown shadow. It is widely rumored that this treasure is buried on Kokosov Island, a small island in the Pacific Ocean. This island is not far from the southwest coast of Costa Rica. Interestingly, Stevenson's masterpiece Treasure Island describes this island.
revive
With the development of science and technology, especially the use of steam engines, navies of various countries have stepped up their coastal patrols. For a long time from the end of 18 to the beginning of 19, pirates almost disappeared, and people learned stories and legends about pirates from novels, plays and paintings.
198 1 In the summer of, a Cuban ship found a "ghost ship" near the Bahamas. It is sailing full sail and has not responded to any signal. Bullets were everywhere on the side, and blood was everywhere on the deck ... Later, it was found out that this sailboat was called "Kalia-III". Two days ago, it sent a distress telegram saying that it was attacked by four unmarked speedboats.
Earlier, in the sea just 70 nautical miles from Havana, several unidentified motorboats tracked and shot a Spanish dry cargo ship "Sinara Aranshasu" with machine guns. The ship is heading for Cuba, with food, cloth and children's toys on board. Soon the ship caught fire and the crew had to abandon the ship and jump into the sea, but the pirates had already arranged "hunting activities" They searched for drowning people and shot them one by one. Modern pirates appear.
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